


Face The World (With You At My Side)

by RavenOfHope



Series: Life Moves (Way Too Fast) [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Harry Potter, Daily Prophet, Established Relationship, False Accusations, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Harry is Lord Black, Harry is Lord Potter, Harry is a Little Shit, M/M, People are idiots, Post-Canon, Post-War, Press and Tabloids, Secret Relationship, made public
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23983972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenOfHope/pseuds/RavenOfHope
Summary: Generally Harry didn’t like to throw his weight around, especially not on private matters. However, The Daily Prophet had finally gone too far this time.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini
Series: Life Moves (Way Too Fast) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1729285
Comments: 12
Kudos: 448





	Face The World (With You At My Side)

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: HP belongs to JKR. No money is being made.
> 
> This is a sequel to my story Hold On Tight (Don't Let Go), but can be read as a stand-alone.

People quickly moved out of the way as Harry strode down Diagon Alley, his magic coiled tightly around him and his eyes fairly glowing giving them an eerie green light. They all had an idea why he was there in such a state and no one dared approach the Saviour they usually flocked to.

Harry ignored the whispers following in his wake as he waltzed into the office of _The Daily Prophet_. Paying the sputtering secretary no mind, he barged into the editor-in-chief’s office. “Cuffe,” he growled and felt very satisfied when the man flinched violently.

Kicking the door shut, Harry walked up to the desk and slammed something down on it. It was this day’s morning edition of the paper. The headline blared _“Saviour Sighted Hand in Hand with Former Slytherin!”_ in bold black letters and in slightly smaller script thereunder _“Sinister Magic at Work?”_. The paper was crumpled from Harry clenching it in his fist.

“You will print a retraction of this article in today’s evening edition or so help me Merlin I will ruin this paper and get you sacked without retirement”, the Potter and Black Lord bit out looking every inch the man that had taken down Voldemort. Barnabas Cuffe, editor-in-chief of _The Daily Prophet_ for nigh on thirty years, paled rapidly.

“Bu-but the r-readers deserve to kn-know…” Harry interrupted him with a harsh, unkind laugh which made the stammering man pale further. “What, they deserve your lies and half-truths that string them along like the sheep they are? I thought this was a newspaper and not a _gossip rag_.” Again Harry revelled in Cuffe flinching.

“I have overlooked the lies and slander you have printed about me all these years, but I won’t let you ruin the reputation of the man I love and his beloved mother. May I remind you, Mr. Cuffe, that both the Potters and the Blacks own shares in this paper. If I were to publicly sell them under market value, what do you think would happen to your reputation, not to mention your finances?”

Harry worked to keep a smirk off his face. He had Cuffe by the balls and he knew it. Generally Harry didn’t like to throw his weight around, especially not on private matters. However, they had finally gone too far by accusing Blaise of potioning or cursing _‘their precious saviour’_ into falling in love with him with his mother, the infamous black widow, helping along of course. It was completely ridiculous.

Harry was aware that he had both significant magical and political power which he knew how to wield thanks to Blaise’ and his mother’s coaching. He didn’t mind throwing it around to get the Prophet off his back and stop them slandering his boyfriend.

Cuffe finally pulled himself together enough to speak without stammering. “I don’t think, there will be any need for such measures, Lord Potter-Black. I apologize on behalf of _The Daily Prophet_ and I promise, we will investigate our sources more thoroughly in the future before publishing their information. The retraction will go out with the evening edition.”

Harry could tell that it cost Cuffe a great deal of self-control to say the words politely and he finally let a satisfied smile show. “I knew, you could be reasoned with, Mr Cuffe. I’m looking forward to receiving the evening paper.” He nodded to Cuffe and turned to leave the office.

Cuffe clearing his throat pointedly stopped him. “Yes?”, Harry asked while looking over his shoulder at the editor. “Lord Potter-Black, would you be willing to provide an official statement to publish with the retraction?” Harry thought the proposition over for a few moments.

“Very well,” he said eventually turning around and sitting in one of the chairs he had ignored so far in front of Cuffe’s desk. “Give me something to write and I will provide you with a written statement as long as it is published in its entirety and unaltered.”

“Of course,” the editor said in agreement and handed him a self-inking quill and some parchment. Harry took some time to write the statement including the information he deemed necessary before handing the parchment over. “Good day, Mr Cuffe,” he said as he left the office.

* * *

_**Saviour In Love!** _

_**Daily Prophet Apologises For Publishing False Claims** _

_By Barnabas Cuffe, editor-in-chief_

The Daily Prophet published a front page article this morning about our Saviour, Lord Harry Potter-Black, and his relationship with Heir Blaise Zabini which was unknown to the population of Wizarding Britain at large. An anonymous source made one of our reporters aware of the relationship and claimed that Lord Potter-Black had to be under the influence of a love potion or curse to remain with the former Slytherin as well as citing the rumours of Heir Zabini’s mother, Lady Gabriella Zabini, killing her seven former husbands for money as proof.

It is to my shame that the matter was not investigated further before being published. After the distribution of the paper this morning, Lord Potter-Black visited me in my office. He was incensed at the article and rightfully so. I apologised on behalf of the paper and we had a short talk. The young Lord then provided me with the following statement which has been published unaltered in its entirety:

_‘Blaise and I have been dating since our eighth year at Hogwarts and we are still very much in love and incredibly happy together. Despite sharing a flat we kept our relationship a secret from everyone but our friends because we knew people would accuse Blaise of completely fabricated crimes which is exactly what happened this morning._

_Neither Blaise nor anyone in his family has ever been a Death Eater or a supporter of Voldemort. Gabriella is a lovely woman who has welcomed me with open arms into her family. She has experienced incredible tragedy losing each of her husbands to unfortunate circumstances, but she still remains a devoted mother to Blaise._

_They would never potion or harm me in any way, but I know from experience that my word alone will not convince the public of that fact. As an Apprentice Healer at St. Mungo’s, I am tested regularly for spells and potions since we work with sometimes dangerously mentally ill patients as well as harmful and addictive potions. These exams are in-depth and happen unscheduled at unregular intervals. If I had ever been potioned, it would have been found out._

_I ask the people of Wizarding Britain not to send anymore false claims about my relationship(s) to the papers and not to make assumptions about Blaise and his character based on the false information published this morning. We only wish to live our life together in peace._

_Signed,_

_Harry Potter-Black, Lord Potter-Black’_

The Daily Prophet officially retracts this morning’s article and has removed it from the archived edition of the paper. On behalf of our paper and all our reporters I apologise again to Lord Potter-Black, Heir Zabini and Lady Zabini for the publishing of the false information. Everyone on our team wishes them well for the future and asks the people of Wizarding Britain to do the same.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no experience with writing newspaper articles, so if I mucked that up, I'm sorry. However I hope you enjoyed the story nonetheless. If you'd like to chat or send me a prompt, you can visit me on Tumblr.


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